Everyday Discipleship

Each year on May 15, we celebrate the feast of St. Isidore, the patron saint of farmers and farm workers. The timing is especially fitting for our area, as many farmers are heading into the fields – or are already there – tilling and planting.

Learn more about six of the most influential approved Marian apparitions of the past five centuries.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus produces, in the end, one ultimate, marvelous fruit: a heart like Jesus’ own.

To mark Mother’s Day May 10, here is a list of a dozen others who can intercede for our own mothers, whether they are with us in this life or have passed on to the next.

The life of a generous, hardworking farm laborer who loved God and the land he tended is celebrated around the world as spring planting begins. Though he lived almost 900 years ago and never left his hometown, St. Isidore is called upon as farmers throughout the world pray for a successful growing season.

The saint behind saints, John of Ávila is the little-known influence behind Spanish mystics such as Teresa of Ávila, John of God, and Ignatius of Loyola. He is also a Doctor of the Church.

St. Joseph does not draw attention to himself. He listens, and he acts, exemplifying what a disciple is: the one who hears “the word of God and acts on it” (Lk 8:21). Whenever we turn our attention to Joseph, we are led, by him and through him, to discover the God whom he heeded and the divine mission he served.

These nine quotes from the first year of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate offer opportunity for reflection as the Church honors St. Joseph the Worker.